Alpha Force in later life
by the-means-of-procrastinating
Summary: Background on Alex's family, but what if they all are dead... Rubbish summary I know. T as paranoid and a few OC's just to mix it up a little.
1. They are all dead you see

**AN: Mainly the original characters, I made up the surnames, couldn't find them anywhere and may have changed their ages. Camille is my character and has briefly dated them but broke up. Made up some of their past as well. Any other queries just ask.**

Liana Chiang paused in the doorway of the house, she felt a hand slide into hers and turned to see Paulo also eyeing up the boy a few meters away at this moment in time both Li and Paulo were glad their friends had locked them in a room together as they had with Alex and Camille all those months ago. She needed someone there for her. They turned and saw two others approaching hand in hand.

"Hey Amber, Hex." Li greeted then returned to looking at their last friend. Alex Allende was standing by the window as still as a statue. It was unnatural. He was watching the raindrops slide slowly down the window, it was clear from his stance and physique that he had been working out. He still blamed himself for John Middleton's death obviously.

Yet despite this he was pale, look fragile and deeply distraught.

"I haven't ever seen him like this." Amber sighed pained "He looks like I felt my my parents died." she whispered "At least I knew mine had each other." she added thinking back to when she had been given the news that her parents had gone down in a plane crash, the only comfort had been that they had had each other.

"I can't imagine what it has been like. We were at a party, he at the hospital and we didn't even know." Li sighed. Alex's parents had died two days ago, his mother due to a failed quadruple heart by pass, his dad in a plane crash flying home to be there with him. The events had happened not seven hours apart. Amber squeezed Hex's hand and slowly walked towards her friend, their leader.

"Alex." her voice was quiet, the boy flinched as though she had physically hurt him. He turned to her and she gasped, his eyes were dark, she hadn't seen them that dark until he had left them fourteen months ago, despite all he did to shield his feelings from them, pain, opinions the works she could clearly see the pain, and blame in them.

"Sorry, I didn't see you." he murmured, Amber slid her arms around him

"I am so, so sorry." she whispered smoothing his hair, Alex sighed slightly

"Do you want any drinks?" he asked when they pulled apart, Amber smiled sadly

"Sure." she led the way to the kitchen Hex clapped his shoulder as they greeted each other

"You look awful mate." he commented

"That's what everyone want to hear." Alex replied drily "Thanks for coming." he added

"Alex, no worries. Boston was getting boring anyway." Li replied, four out of the five laughed, Alex stayed silent.

"Do you need any help with the funeral?" Paulo asked, ever practical.

"Its sorted, I am used to doing that." Alex replied, this confused his friends but they made no comment

"Are your family coming?" Li asked handing him a mug of strong coffee which he accepted gratefully

"No." he replied, they four exchanged shocked looks, _what?!_ "It would be quite hard." Alex added "They are all dead you see." Hex chocked on his coffee "Sorry, I thought you knew." Alex apologised

"Don't apologise amigo, but, do you mind if I ask _how _?" Paulo asked, Alex grimaced slightly, his friend regretted asking.

"Incidents here and there. My dad had three brothers, one joined the SAS with him, he died when I was eight, for getting shot, his wife got cancer and their two children died in a car accident with my dads other brother and his wife and three children. I was nine then. The third bother married, had four children, he died in the bombings on the London underground, my aunt from a plane crash with those children.

"My mother had two brothers and four sisters, and hated every moment of it, she was the youngest. Two sisters, their husbands and seven children, and one brother, his wife and three children died in an earthquake, they were travelling in caves on a holiday. It was a prize from a raffle. I was twelve. The other brother married, and died of a heart attack, his wife and six children, I think the numbers of children in my family is ridiculous," Alex added, his friends had to agree, "They died in rapids on the grand canyon a few weeks later. I was thirteen.

"One of my remaining aunts was gay, she and her girlfriend went on holiday and were caught in the boxing day tsunami with their four adopted children. The final aunt married and had two children, a small number for my family, and he died from kidney failure, she from a heart attack, then the children were adopted and went travelling with their new 'parents'. One was bitten by a snake the other got malaria within four weeks of their parents they were dead. I was fourteen. Then my grandparents, all four of them died from cancer. I was fifteen." he sighed and took a deep breath. He stood and walked to the window and looked out across the misty moors

"My three sisters and two brothers-" everyone gasped "all died. Lucy when I was three from a weakened immune system. They couldn't stop the infection she was five. James caught the measles and, also with a weak immune system died. That was when I was five he was eight. Aggie and Phoebe were twins. They caught cancer. When I was seven they died within a few hours of each other, I didn't do enough. They were eight." he broke off and his friends looked on shocked, Alex was always so close and secretive when it came to family, now they knew why

"What about your other brother?" Paulo asked quietly eyes wide, Alex shut his eyes as if physically pained. He sat back in his seat.

"William would be eighteen." Alex stated, that was the same age as Alex "He was my identical twin." the four friends looked at each other then at Alex who had his head in his hands, they had never imagined this. "He too got cancer. We were twelve, it was the day before our thirteenth birthday, we were going to take him to the beach, he loved the feel of the wind on his face, even without the hair we were practically identical. I had given so much and was so worried I was even the same build, I barely ate and worried so much I hardly slept. After he died I was kept in the hospital because I stopped caring. Three weeks later dad entered my room in the hospital and handed me a leaflet. 'A trip of a lifetime.' I was accepted and found a purpose in my life." Alex lifted his head out of his hands and looked into the shocked faces "You saved me. I didn't realise how far I had fallen until I had to get myself out of there again." Alex stood suddenly

"I need to run. Make yourself at home." he left the room and was running as he left the house.

"Shit." Li drew the word out "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit."

"Took the words right out my mouth Li." Amber agreed

"His family." Paulo breathed. Hex was working his jaw up and down trying to get something out

"Alex." he managed

"Yes..." Li prompted

"Is a twin." he finished

"Had five siblings, eighteen aunts and uncles, forty one cousins, four grandparents alive when he was born, and they are all dead." Paulo concluded

"We need Camille." Amber summarised pulling out her phone, she rang the girls number, then frowned "Voice mail." she sighed dejectedly

"Have they talked?" Paulo asked curious

"We gave Alex her number, but who knows. That boy be crazy." Amber replied, Li laughed humourlessly

"With what we just learnt of his family, can you blame him?" they all agreed she had a point.

* * *

The girl in question was sitting in a plane waiting for take off. It had taken four hours of pleading with her boss to let her heave the field and go to the funerals. It was only because a message had come through about reinforcements during the 'discussion' he had let her go. She wasn't doing much either. She thought back to the phone call

* * *

"_Hello?" she had spoken softly to avoid waking the other members of her tent_

"_Camille its Alex..." a voice she knew well drifted over the phone, her breath caught in her throat_

"_Alex." the hope was not disguised_

"_Sorry." his voice caught in his throat._

_Then the words had started flowing freely, Alex apologised profusely several times, told her all about Canada and the attempts on their lives, wanted to make sure she was OK and safe. The conversation had gone on for hours, Camille telling Alex what she had done, also apologising. _

_After that there were no issues or awkwardness, they phoned each other every night when she was not in the foreign lands and company, and when that happened she always phoned him to talk and tell him all that happened. Then she had had a phone call out of the set times for calling each other so they knew they would be safe and not put the other in trouble or danger._

"_Alex? What's wrong?" she asked worried_

"_Its my mum." he gasped out, she could tell he was deeply shaken and upset_

"_Is she OK? Did the operation succeed?" Camille asked worried_

"_She died." Alex gasped out, Camille took a sharp intake of breath _

"_No, Alex..." she trailed off not sure how to proceed _

"_My dad is flying in, he should be landing soon, his car is a the airport though so I can't pick him up." she heard Alex sighed and deeply wanted to be there to hold him, there was a beeping and Alex sighed again "Sorry, I will be with you in a second." the line went dead, she waited and a few minutes later she heard the line switch back, there was silence_

"_Alex, breathe." she reminded him feeling that he was still there, she heard a shaky deep breath "Are you OK? What was that about?" she asked thinking he had had to deliver the news again_

"_His plane crashed." she heard the younger boy choke out "There were no survivors." time seemed to slow down as Camille realised the implications of this_

"_Alex, oh Alex." her heart went out to him _

"_Cam, I need you." again his voice broke, she knew how much it must have pained him to say that, he had never admitted to really needing help, he took it when offered but never asked. They talked for a few more minutes then Alex had to go. Camille waited for him to hang up then redialled, her boss picked up the phone and the one and a half day negotiations began._

* * *

"Pardon." the French word jolted her from her reminiscing "Can I get you a drink?" the hostess asked in broken English

"Coffee would be lovely thank you." she replied in fluent, flawless French, the hostess smiled and poured her a plastic mug,

"Anything else?" she asked "Water? Alcohol?"

"Water please." the plastic, sealed pot of water was handed over with another plastic mug

"The food trolley will be along shortly mademoiselle." the lady moved away and Camille cupped her coffee, the rest of the Alpha force should be there by now. How would Alex be?

* * *

Alex was running, his heart and head pounding, his feet aching, his throat burning and his lungs exhausted, his legs felt like jelly from the lactic acid from anaerobic respiration. His phone rang in his pocket but he ignored it he kept running letting the icy, wet Northumbrian rain soak him and chill him to the bone. He stumbled in a rabbit warren entrance and his ankle protested painfully.

Yet still he ran.

* * *

"I am getting worried, its been what? Four, nearly five, hours, he had not stopped moving for more than ten seconds. Its not healthy." Li sighed and paced the opposite way through the living room, Amber put her phone down again

"Alex is not answering and Cam goes straight to voice mail." she sighed, Li groaned and paced the opposite way

"We could go after him." Paulo suggested

"No, it wouldn't work." Hex sighed

"He needs to find a way to cope, its when he stops caring you need to worry, Alex is coping by running at the moment, to far he is doing better than me." Amber admitted

"Oh yes, you turned diabetic in denial." Paulo commented

"No, I was a diabetic that didn't care." Amber corrected, her phone rang and she whipped it out a frown crossed her face

"Hey Camille." she said into the phone, there was a pause, "Yes, we're at his house... Of course... no, no no! Its no problem, thank you so much for coming! Yes... OK...see you there in twenty minutes if you are on time." Amber hung up

"So..." Li prompted as Amber started readying herself for the rain

"Camille has flown in, but has no money for a taxi, she is about twenty minutes out, takes about that to drive to the airport so I am going to pick her up. If Alex is still not back, we go searching because he has gone past the not caring." she instructed

"I'll come." Hex announced standing

"Thanks." Amber replied, he slipped his hand in hers and they left.

* * *

"How do you think he'll cope?" Hex asked waiting for Camille at the airport, her plane was delayed by the storm

"I don't know. With the five stages of denial DABDA, he skipped Denial and may be at Anger, but I wouldn't bet on it. He could be at the end, Acceptance, but I really don't know." Amber groaned and Hex wrapped his arms around her soothing her

"Is 'B' blame?" Hex asked

"No, bargaining, but for Alex... probably, oh Hex, his eyes." she despaired

"Camille." Hex smiled over Ambers head

"Hey. Long time no see." she smiled slightly, Amber let go of Hex and hugged the girl she hadn't seen since her uncles funeral

"Hey. Hows the UN?" Hex asked after a brief hug as well

"Hot, how was Canada?" she asked in return

"Oh, so he did use the number we gave him!" Amber exclaimed

"You gave it to him! He didn't say. So Alex." Camille paused "How is he?" she asked cautiously, the smiles left the couple's faces

"Not good. Come on, he should be back by now." Hex picked up two of her bags

"Do you have enough stuff?" Amber teased getting anther one, Camille took the last one

"I came straight from the field, no house, this is all my stuff I had to bring it, my boss is grumpy enough with me as it is for coming." they reached the car and Hex grabbed the keys, Amber let Camille sit in the front

"When you say 'back', where from?" she asked confused

"Running," her phone beeped Amber glanced at the screen "Still not back, that's five and a half hours. The most he has stopped was for about ten seconds. We guess he stumbled." Amber informed her

"Did you know about his family?" Hex asked curious

"What about them? They're all dead are they not?" she asked confusion filling her

"We didn't know that." Hex explained

"Oh, he didn't tell me either, I researched him. An obscene number of aunts, uncles and cousins." Camille told them

"Oh, hadn't thought of that. What about his siblings?" Amber asked, Camille turned to face the back seat where the teen was sitting

"He has siblings!" she exclaimed

"Oh, nice to know we were not alone. And yes, he did." Camille noted the past tense in Ambers statement

"Not them as well." she groaned "I heard how broken he was on the phone about his dad, and mum." she sighed

"When did you find out?" Hex asked

"He was still at the hospital I think. Then as I was on the phone another call came through and he was told his dad had gone in the plane crash." Camille shut her eyes "God." she cursed

"We were at a party in Boston, Alex had to fly home early, he never came to the party, his mum was going in for the quadruple heart bypass surgery and he wanted to be home. He made us all stay, we wanted to leave but he wouldn't let us. Said we had to stay for the others. Bloody UN Greenpeace party. So Alex." Hex stated

"The next day we called him to ask how it went, the phone went to voice mail. I guess it was you Cam." Amber continued "We called his home, his mobile, everything, but the home phone went to answer phone." she sighed "Eventually that evening we got through, he didn't pick up his mobile though. We guess he left it at home when he went for a run. Then we stopped, damn time zones." Amber sighed "The next morning we all sat and phoned one after the other, eventually of Li's third call he answered. He told us his mum was dead, and his dad. I booked flights and we all left. We arrived, saw him, heard about his family, then came to pick you up." Amber finished. Camille sighed

"We're here." Hex announced pulling into the long drive, a few minutes later the car stopped in the house, Paulo and Li were outside

"Oh, they're still together, looks like locking people in rooms helps sometimes." Camille commented dryly. They all left the car and lugged Camille's bags to her room after the round of 'hello's and 'I haven't seen you in ages!'. Then they all sat in the kitchen and caught up, the computer beeped

"Six and a half hours. We need to go look for him." Li sighed eyeing the rain outside, as if he had been summoned the door opened and shut, there was a pause then a sodden Alex traipsed past the doorway and straight up the stairs dripping the whole way, the five friends looked at each other

"Coffee." Camille ordered standing and grabbing some towels, Hex stood and made coffee while Paulo grabbed the first aid kit, they handed all of this to Camille "Thanks." she smiled slightly and started towards his room, he knocked lightly and slipped inside, she saw the bathroom door open and walked in, she saw Alex standing as still as death with the odd shiver he saw he in the mirror and spun around

"Cammie!" he whispered eyes wide,

"Hey." she smiled sadly, she held her arms out and Alex hugged her tightly, she hugged him back smoothing his soaking hair not caring he was soaking her as well, after a few minutes she heard him crying, it broke her heart but she just held him.

"Hey, sorry." Alex's voice was rough, a shiver racked his body and Camille switched into care mode,

"Shower now." she commanded, she reached for the hem of his top but he stopped her

"I can do it." he told her, she nodded confused and turned and handed him his coffee, he drank it eyeing her over the mug "Thank you." she took the mug back, he turned to the shower

"Camille." she stopped and turned "Sorry." his brow furrowed and he bit his lip, she smiled slightly and kissed his forehead before leaving. Alex slid his top off and looked in the mirror, the bruises covering him had gotten worse, the worst thing was that he knew he had not banged himself hard enough for them to form, he had knocked stuff gently, yet he had still bruised. He had seen that before in his sisters. They had cancer.

He stripped and limped to the shower and let the water pound over him and calm him.

* * *

"Cam!" Alex called through the door, Camille jerked awake and sat up on the bed

"Yes?" she replied

"Could I have some clothes?" he asked, she bit back a laugh

"Sorry, sure, but only the underwear, I need to check you medically." she replied handing in clothes, Alex shut his eyes and sighed, she was bound to find out sometime.

He slipped on his underwear and gathered up the rest of his clothes, he left the bathroom and looked at Camille waiting for a response, she silently took in all his bruises and picked up the first aid kit, Alex limped to the bed and sat slowly, Cam lifted his foot off the floor and examined it

"I think it maybe broken, I'll bandage it and get Paulo to look at it at a more reasonable time of day." when she was sufficiently content with his examination she yawned, Alex pointed at the bathroom

"Go, refresh then sleep." he commanded, she nodded tiredly and slid into the bathroom, a few minutes later she emerged, Alex slid across the bed wincing as he went and Camille slipped in next to him

"I hear you had siblings." she commented quietly

"Yes. Three sisters, two brothers. Lucy died first, I was three, she had a weakened immune system, she was two years older than me, then James, he was three years older, I was five, him eight, measles coupled with a weakened immune system. Then Aggie and Phoebe within a few hours of each other, cancer. They were twins. Then... William. Will. He was my identical twin. He died of cancer the day before we turned thirteen. I could do enough." Alex sighed, Camille snuggled closer and kissed his cheek,

"Don't blame yourself." she told him. Soon they were both asleep.

* * *

"Hello Allende household?" Li spoke into the phone "No, sorry he is not here, can I take a message?" there was a pause then Li scribbled down a message "Thank you, I will tell him as soon as he is back. Bye." she hung up

"What was that about?" Amber called from the kitchen

"Some doctor Nye. He said he had some test results back. I told him I would get Alex to phone back." she sat at the table "When he is awake." she added with a slight smile, she had peeked in his room earlier and found Camille wrapped around Alex, both fast asleep.

"Does Alex seem different to you?" Paulo asked suddenly

"You mean aside from grief stricken?" Hex asked, Paulo nodded once "You mean weaker, more tired... hopeless?"

"You noticed, I thought it was my over active imagination." Li commented "Here they come." footsteps came down the stair slowly, Camille supported a limping Alex

"What did you do?!" Paulo demanded guiding him to a chair

"I tripped." Alex explained wincing as his ankle was prodded

"I told you those damn rabbit warrens would be the death of someone." Hex grumbled having the done the same thing when he visited

"Someone phoned." Li stated getting him a drink

"Who?" Alex asked

"Doctor Nye." Li replied, Alex jerked upright, eyes wide

"What did he say?" Alex demanded

"Some test results were back. Why?" she asked handing him the phone guessing he would want to phone the doctor, he dialled the number

"Alex Allende." he said into the phone, there was a pause "Are they all in?" he asked confusing his friends, he nodded slightly "Half an hour, I can do that. Thank you." another pause "Yes, see you later." he hung up looking noticeably paler

"You are not driving anywhere with that ankle. I don't know what you did but I have never seen a simple accident like a stumble do that before." Paulo commented

"I'll drive, I need to buy some supplies in town anyway." Hex commented

"Me too." Camille added

"Li, fancy a trip?" Amber asked, the anglo-Chinese girl grinned

"Northumbrian shopping again, it was such fun last time." Li replied

"Do I want to know?" Camille asked

"They bought para gliders and went paragliding." Paulo explained with a fond smile, Camille rolled her eyes

"Why am I not surprised."

**AN: so, sorry if its really bad, please review and... first story so don't kill me. **

**Please.**


	2. The colour of extraordinary

"Alex, I am so sorry for your loss." Doctor Nye greeted them in the waiting room, Paulo helped him stand "What did you do?"

"I think its a torn tendon and damaged ligaments, maybe a fractured bone then a cracked Fibula and fractured Tibia." Paulo commented answering the question

"Doctor Nye." the doctor introduced himself

"Paulo, I am a paramedic." he added at the doctors raised eyebrows

"Well, lets get that bandaged and some painkillers for you. This way, can you support him or would you like a wheel chair?" Nye asked turning

"I can cope, its fine." Paulo replied after Alex looked at him they were led to a examination room, Paulo sat on the chair after depositing Alex on the bed. The doctor examined his leg and then returned with a nurse and bandages

"Paulo, could I have a hand here?" the nurse asked when the doctor was out the room, together they bandaged the leg

"What colour?" the nurse asked holding up the cast wrapping colours

"Pink definitely." Paulo grinned

"I am not unconscious this time, and do have a say in the matter. Though I will go with a more entertaining colour for you." Alex grinned, the nurse laughed and held up day-glow yellow

"Suitable?" she asked with a smile, Alex laughed slightly and looked surprised

"Thank you." Alex smiled at the nurse for making him laugh, the nurse understood knowing about the boys resent parental status

"We can do stripes?" the nurse suggested Alex and Paulo grinned

"Yes." they both stated, the nurse smiled

"Colours?" she prompted

"Blue, green, yellow, purple and pink." Paulo suggested

"Sounds good." Alex agreed. Ten minutes later he was equipped with crutches and a stripy cast, much to the boys disgruntlement they coloured crutches did not come in his size. The nurse led Alex to the doctors room again and led Paulo away, Alex sat slowly and looked at the grave face of the doctor

"Nice cast." he commented

"Thanks." Alex replied "What were they?"

"Positive." Nye delivered the blow. Alex nodded once absorbing the news, he shut his eyes

"OK. Can anything be done?" he had seen cancer too much to know nothing happened when you were in denial

"Transfusions. Transplants. If you get enough bone marrow we should be able to 'swap' yours for that. If we do a complete compete transfusion. There is a new treatment..." Nye added Alex looked up

"What?" he asked not letting himself hope

"We do Chemo then the bone marrow, then you have injections every five hours." Nye explained

"Like a diabetic?" he asked

"Yes, in theory. We would keep you here for three days making sure you get in the routine then give you pens to inject yourself with, you would be part of the pilot study." Nye admitted

"That's fine. When?" Alex asked

"As soon as possible really. After the funeral." Nye stated Alex nodded

"How long would it take?" he asked worried

"Chemo for a five days then transplant, you would have to find a donor, anyone would work really, then two days of transplanting then three days of observation and you would be free, two weeks really." he closed his folder "Here is a copy of your notes for you to take home and the plan and timetable to study. If we start in four days, that gives you recovery time from the funeral, thank you for the invite," he added Alex nodded sadly "Then you should be up and kicking in three weeks." he explained

"Thank you." he stared to stand

"Oh and Alex?" the doctor called him back

"Yes?" he asked confused

"Try to avoid seven hour runs." Nye smiled looking at his leg, Alex nodded "Though the fact you managed that shows you are still kicking."

* * *

"Hey, he still in there?" Li asked Paulo finding him in the waiting room

"Yep. Though he left one vital thing off his Doctors title." Paulo replied looking at the doctors sign

"Doctor Albert Nye, _Oncology_." Amber breathed "No." she shook her head

"Hey." Alex hopped across the room on crutches looking more tired than normal, Camille took the folder out of his hand to let him get a better grip

"Hi." Hex said flatly

"I see you read the sign." Alex sighed "I'll explain at home."

* * *

"So..." Hex prompted they were all sitting around the table eating lunch

"Multiple myeloma." Alex summarised

"Cancer of the bone marrow." Paulo groaned they all looked at him "It can affect your kidneys and blood, bones etc." he summarised

"What can be done?" Camille asked

"Kidney removal or transplant, the latter less common due to lack of matching donors. Bone marrow removal. Chemotherapy." Paulo looked at Alex, Camille was flicking through the medical file

"Why are your families record in here?" she asked confused

"They're not." Alex replied

"Yes they are, William Allende, kidney and bone marrow transplant. Aggie Allende, liver transplant, Phoebe Allende, Bone marrow transplant. all three Blood, platelets. James and Lucy Allende, Lymphocytes, White blood cells, Blood in general. It has them all." she replied, Paulo took the file off her

"Alex is right, its not their notes." he stated realisation dawning

"But-" Li was cut off

"They're all his. He gave the blood, bone marrow, kidney, liver, everything. that's what he meant when he said he couldn't do enough. He gave all of them something of him, and now he cant have a kidney transplant. He can't have his marrow removed." Paulo concluded, Alex inclined his head letting him know he was right, the phone rang, it was handed to Alex, he gestured for his file to be returned with a pen,

"OK... no that's fine... OK... bye." he hung up and scribbled on his file "As for what they are doing to me, Chemo in two days, starts three hours after the funeral ends, the only time could fit me in, then they transplant the Bone marrow, if they can find enough, and then I get pens like Amber. After three days in the hospital I get set free. I inject myself every five hours, when I wake and before I go to sleep doesn't matter if I do two, you can't overdose. Then a week later I go back. Then two weeks. Then a months, then two. Eventually its just the three monthly check ups." Alex explained.

* * *

"Alex." Camille whispered, there was a groan from the bed

"Go away." he whispered voice thick and heavy with exhaustion

"No." she replied jumping onto the bed. Alex rolled over and Camille fought to keep the look of shock off her face

"Good thing I haven't looked in a mirror since this started." Alex whispered hoarsely his sarcasm marred by his sore throat. The Chemo had been going for four days, tomorrow he was getting the last batch then being transplanted, seven hours of surgery.

"It's not that bad." she tried

"Don't lie. I have seen it before " Alex sighed. His hair was all gone and he was as white as a sheet. His eyes were dark and sunken in. He was as thin as Li but his thinness was coupled with weakness.

"What did you do today?" Alex made an effort to talk, this was different, normally he slept.

"Climbing again." she rolled her eyes "Is Li part monkey?" she asked, Alex laughed half heartedly then coughs racked his body, he rolled on his side and coughed for at least three minutes. Camille rubbed his back soothingly, he rolled back onto his back and was paler and his eyes were shutting.

"Probably." he mumbled, Camille was confused until she remembered her previous comment

"As soon as you are better you can take me up there and I won't look like a complete idiot." she smiled. Alex was one of the better climbers but compared to Li he was as useless as her.

"Did you go riding?" Alex mumbled

"Yes, Paulo is still not impressed I am better than him." she added

"You will be ready for the adventure trek." Alex muttered. She was doing the adventure trek in Zambia the Alpha force had done twice and come second the first time and first the second. This was Camille's first time with the UN. She was excited, yet terrified at the same time. What she didn't know was that Alpha force were planning to do it as well, with or without Alex. They had three and a half months, yet it may not be enough.

"I hope so." Camille replied biting her lip worried. She watched the sun set fully "Sleep." she told him

"Your wish is my command." Alex teased, shut his eyes and was gone.

* * *

"How is he?" Li asked when Camille descended the staircase

"Worse. But he tried to have conversation. I told him to sleep." she added

"That's new." Amber commented handing around plates

"I am glad its the last dose tomorrow." Paulo sighed

"Then seven hours of surgery." Camille added

* * *

"Any signs of bruising, other than understandable ones, fainting, light headedness, anything out for the ordinary, call me on my mobile. If it is serious, bring him back." Nye instructed the five nodded. Alex wheeled himself in "Here he is. Now you got my list of do's and don't's. You have your watch set for when you have to inject yourself. I will see you at this time in exactly a week. No travelling abroad remember." he added looking at Alex's companions, they all nodded. "For gods sake Alex, don't do anything stupid." Nye added as he turned to leave

"Me, do something stupid! I think you are confusing me with Will!" Alex replied

"Wouldn't be the first time. I seem to recall you almost got Chemotherapy in his place because we didn't believe you were not your brother." the doctor sighed and left them

"Really!" Li asked

"Yes. Funnily enough they don't believe when you say 'I am not William I am his identical twin brother Alexander, he is in the bathroom!'" Alex replied with the grin, they all laughed amused

"Shotgun!" Amber said jumping onto Alex's lap, he rolled his eyes and Camille came and sat on the other leg, more carefully than the former, then Li sat on the both of them

"Home boys!" Amber exclaimed. Paulo and Hex rolled their eyes

"Race?" Camille suggested Li jumped off

"Me and Paulo, you and Hex, and Cam and Alex." she stated, Amber slid off and Camille grabbed the handles of the wheelchair, Li and Amber jumped onto their boyfriends back and they got ready to run

"GO!" Hex exclaimed against his usual quiet introvert behaviour, they ran

"WE WIN!" Camille exclaimed reaching the car laughing, those who could all lay on the ground laughing then Alex pulled his phone out as it vibrated, he laughed again and looked at the hospital

_Alex, I said nothing stupid._ It was from the doctor

_I was perfectly safe. You said nothing about my friends not being stupid._ Alex sent back, a few seconds later there was a reply

_Well played. I mean it though._

Camille slipped under Alex's arm and helped him to the car, he got the front seat, then the rest followed him, the chair and crutches got put in the boot

"I'll drive!" Camille exclaimed they all groaned

"Seatbelts!" Alex exclaimed pretending to be worried, the African rolled her eyes

"Ha ha." she replied rolling her eyes at them,

* * *

"ALEX!" Paulo rushed to his friend who was walking towards the kitchen slowly, without crutches, he rushed to his side and slipped under his arm and helped him to the seat, Alex nodded gratefully

"It doesn't look that far from my seat over there." his watch beeped and Alex groaned, he pulled out a syringe pen, he jabbed it in his leg and sighed "Bloody drugs." he sighed

"Alex." Amber walked in from climbing with Li on the moors, she pushed a folder towards him "As you couldn't stay awake long enough, that is the plans for you charity idea." Alex had come up with an idea for a charity for orphans around the world, he opened the folder

"MAD OCC?" he asked confused reading the top of the sheet

"Middleton Allende Daguerre Orphaned Children Charity." Camille explained a smile flickered onto Alex's face

"Sounds brilliant, couldn't have done better." all his friends smiled and high-fived

"You came up with the idea in the first place." Amber commented dryly they all laughed

"How did the check up go?" Hex asked entering the room and kissing Amber lightly

"Get a room!" Li threw a scrunch up ball of paper at the two of them, she turned to Alex "How did it go?"

"At the moment I am clear, just need to return if I start to feel like I did when it started." Alex replied

"And when was that?" Paulo asked turning from the stove

"Just before mum was diagnosed. They noticed I was weaker, told me to go to Nye. I told them the results came back clean like they had last time. Then mum got told she had to have surgery, dad had to to to Africa, she had complications and you know the rest, I didn't want them to know." Alex explained

"Did the previous tests come back clean?" Amber asked having stopped kissing Hex

"No." Paulo answered for the younger teen, he grabbed the medical file off the side where it lived and flicked to the scan pages "The past four tests came back positive. The first was small. Another came back worse. Then a break of a few months." he flicked his eyes to Alex and Camille grabbed the file

"This was just before you left." she exclaimed

"Is _that _why you left!" Li exclaimed, Alex nodded once.

"You moron!" Paulo and Hex exclaimed for once thinking the same thing.

"You should have told us." Amber hit him with the folder on the arm, Alex laughed humourlessly

"I came home. Got treatment, left for Canada. I couldn't do that to you. No one knew." Alex stated

"Are you freaking telling me you went to Solambia with Cancer!" Amber exclaimed

"Technically no... I was in remission. As with just before I left, then I thought I was in remission but I wasn't." he sighed and rubbed his eyes

"Oh my God Alex!" Li shrieked "You... You... YOU!" she hit him repeatedly with the folder after snatching it off Amber,

"Help?" he asked the others

"Not likely, you are lucky there is only one folder." Hex snorted.

"Dinner!" Paulo announced Alex took advantage of the distraction to grab the file and sit on it. Li glared at him and slapped him around the head with her hand for good measure then sat.

"ALEX!" Camille exclaimed

"I am getting so tired of hearing that." Alex sighed, Camille grabbed his arm and examined the bruises

"What happened? You get hit by a car?!" she demanded

"No, a folder." Alex admitted, Li's eyes flew open wider

"NO!" she stated "That was so gentle!"

"Give it ten minutes and I will have a hand shaped bruise on my arm." Alex commented eyeing Camille's hand, she let go like he had burnt her

"That light a touch!" Hex commented Alex nodded

"You remember throwing the cushion at me yesterday?" he asked, they all nodded, Alex lifted up his top and showed then a square bruise on his side, they all winced

"It was quite a forceful throw Paulo." Hex commented, the Argentinian looked guilty

"Sorry." he apologised

"It's cool. Its when I get the bruises from simply picking up my crutches you need to worry." Alex replied

"That doesn't happen." Amber commented rolling her eyes, when Alex didn't smile reassuringly she paused "Does it?"

"Well I haven't seen it with the owners crutches but Will passed my crutches to me. His hands bruised." Alex stated they all looked at him "I had broken my leg, he used to be on crutches because he sprained his ankle tripping up the stairs but he didn't have the strength to use them. He couldn't push his own wheelchair either because his hands turned black and blue. Four weeks later he deteriorated. God we had so much fun in wheelchairs." Alex grinned

"Both of you or just him?" Hex asked quietly having no seen this side of Alex before

"Both of us. I had just donated my kidney and they didn't want either of us using crutches, I had a broken leg and him a sprained ankle. We had races." Alex grinned "It was just us by then." an old sorrow pulled at his lips "I gave him a purple cast once." he added "The sprain. He was under drugs, so asleep, they had done the transplant and re did our casts while we slept, but what we were not told was that he planned as I did for the nurses to give the other a girly cast before we went under. We laughed so hard when we woke."

"I can imagine." Camille agreed smiling at the thought.

* * *

Alex ran his blood pounding in his ears and head. His breath was steady though. His body felt like it was about to drop. The distance was only three miles, he used to be able to do it easily in under thirty minutes, but he was nearly an hour. Yet he ran. He saw the gates and felt relief fill him, he ran through them and followed to all to familiar path through the graves, he reached his destination. He crouched slowing his breathing and stretching is recently healed leg out wincing. It ached maybe the run was not the best thing to do. He felt the sun break the horizon and warm his sweaty neck it lit the black slab of marble in front of him

_William Alexander Allende_

_1996 – 2008_

_Beloved Son, Brother,_

_Nephew and Cousin_

_The Colour Of Extraordinary._

Alex traced the familiar letters pausing on the final line. He smiled faintly

"Looks like we are now identical." Alex ran a hand through his stubble of hair pulling his hat of as he went, frost covered the ground and he had found being outside with no hair was cold.

"MMBM. We always joked that if there were any I would get that one. Unlikely survival rates, involves what I have given most of. Stupid Bone marrow." Alex sighed and was so distracted he didn't hear Camille crouch behind him he kept talking "James would be twenty one. Sorry I missed it." he turned briefly to the grave next to the one he was crouched at

"You are probably laughing your heads off at the moment. Alex got cancer. The only one who became a teen, one of the two who reached double figures. You have mum and dad now." he laid a hand on Williams grave and pulled out four cards. He stood and walked to the most recent graves

"Happy belated Birthday mum." he put one card down "I'll get you some flowers like I always do later." he moved down the line "Hey dad. Look after them." he kept walking "Hey James, happy belated birthday. You were probably laughing at he puking my guts up on your birthday. Hello Lucy. And Aggie and Phoebe, Phoebe and Aggie. Happy Birthday." he crouched and placed the two remaining cards on their graves then returned to Williams

"I am sorry for teasing you mercilessly when you went Chemotherapy. It is horrible, everyone wanted to talk to me, all I wanted to do was sleep. Cam, I told you about her, jumped on my bed. She is probably thinking I am crazy for talking to grave stones to be honest. And giving you cards." Alex stood and held out a hand, Camille took it

"Hardly. Orphan as well remember. I did it all the time. I talked to the plants, the animals, I just talked, at least you aim it at something." Camille replied Alex laughed slightly

"I suppose you have a point. Its the twins birthday today, mums was yesterday and James' on my fourth day of Chemo." James explained, Alex turned to face her just as she went to kiss his cheek, their lips met and they kissed, Alex slid his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, a few minutes later they broke off, Camille's eyes were shining

"Cammie, would you like to get back together?" Alex asked grinning she kissed him again

"Thought you would never ask!" she grinned "Though, you cannot run away again just because you have cancer again." she scolded him, he smiled guiltily

"Deal." they kissed sealing it again

"I think our friends were planning to lock us in a room together again." Camille commented, Alex laughed and crouched again still holding her hand wincing as his leg twinged, he moved it and laid a hand on Will's grave shutting his eyes

"I should have waited." Alex grinned at her, she crouched next to him

"I will look after him don't worry." she promised the grave, Alex smiled faintly "What does the last line mean?"

"It's something we did, we wrote notes to each other and left them places. Mainly sarcasm but that was the last thing I said to him. He was in the hospital bed, all the wires gone, I took his hand and said 'You are the colour of extraordinary.' he smiled weakly and simply said 'Thank you for being my brother.' Then he died. When his hand was taken from my grip I found he had left a message in my hand." Alex smiled sadly

"What did it say?" she asked, Alex laughed, Camille found this strange

"'I told you I was sick.'" Alex explained "It is what I want on my grave." he added "When we were three we decided what we wanted on our graves Lucy had just died and we thought we would decide now. He said he wanted to be the colour of Extraordinary when he grew up. He was. He never gave up. I said I wanted 'I told you I was sick.'" they stayed like that for a while before Camille had to speak

"I hate to ruin the moment but my feet are like ice blocks and my but is dead." she whispered, Alex laughed and pushed her backwards, she grabbed him and pulled her with her, from the easy way he fell it was clear this was expected, they rolled down the hill and landed at the bottom laughing trying to catch their breath, Alex leant over Camille and grinned, he kissed her, she rolled on top of him and kissed him longer, deeper, Alex framed her face with his hands

"Why did I ever leave you." he murmured, she stood and offered a hand to Alex

"Because, obviously, you are an utter moron. I thought we made that clear with Amber and Li hitting you around the head and Hex, Paulo and myself wishing there were more medical files to hit you with." she replied kissing him again

"Obviously." Alex grinned

"Why I let you go is another matter all together." she added

"Because you are a moron." Alex grinned

"Obviously." Camille grinned too "Race you?" she asked, Alex groaned, then knocked her over and ran towards the gate, when there he stopped and collapsed on the bench

"Damn, you is fast for a boy only off crutches three days and Chemo seven weeks." Alex grinned as she sat beside him, he was shockingly out of breath

"Don't be silly. You could run circles around me." Alex gasped out, she eyed him critically

"Is this our lovely friend cancer or you being un fit?" she asked worried

"The latter due to the former." Alex stated

"Well, looks like its a long walk home." she grinned "With company when we get there." she groaned

"No," then Alex groaned "Bank holiday Friday. Who puts one on a Friday!"

"England. It's Easter, they are here for three weeks." she replied rolling her eyes "Anyway, we are training for the adventure trek. You can come recover your fitness." she grinned they stood and Alex grabbed her hand

"When does your boss want you back?" he asked curious, all the others had gone back to their universities but Camille had stayed

"Not until after the Adventure trek. The others on it from the UN are all on leave and not returning until two weeks after the trek. We meet up one week before to train together. They want to raise awareness of the UN and what we do. They can't really do that unless we get a good placing. They know we can't train properly in the field so they free us up and set us loose." she explained at his shocked look

"I am not complaining," he grinned

"Alex, don't leave like that again. Please. Not just before, but this morning. You terrified me." Camille asked stopping walking. Alex hugged her and kissed her lightly

"Sorry. I am not planning to." worries sorted they continued the walk home.

**AN: So... please tell me what you think if anyone reads this. It would really brighten up my day.**


	3. I had cancer

**AN: Here you go if anyone actually deigns to read this...**

"Cam, _now_ you see if you can climb and abseil." Alex called dismounting his horse he had raced against Paulo up to the top of the canyon. Camille also dismounted and glanced over the edge, she gulped.

"Do I have to?" she asked, Li smiled at her

"I'll keep an eye on you." she promised. They got into their harnesses the lines all but welded into the rock a good distance from the edge. The Argentinian sun beat down on them. This was their last stop, they had exhausted the moors with the training, London and Boston had no useful features and Li's parents were stationed on Paulo parent's ranch at the moment to everyone's surprise. It was only after a great deal of bargaining and quick, smooth talking that Doctor Nye let Alex go.

They positioned themselves on the edge of the cliff and hung, Camille tried to still her pounding heart, a hand slipped into hers and she saw Alex with a huge grin on his face next to her, he tugged his rope and then sprung off the cliff flapping his arms like a bird his hand leaving hers, she laughed, the others turned at the strange noise from the formerly terrified African, they saw Alex pretending to fly and all burst out laughing, just like that all nervousness was gone. Hex went first, followed by Li, then Paulo, then Amber. Alex waited a while before descending followed by Camille. She was slower than the rest but picked up speed as she went down, then her foot slipped as the rock gave way, she slammed into the cliff face and froze, Alex also froze as rock tumbled past him and waited for the dust to clear

"Cam! You OK?!" Alex called, there was silence, Alex examined the wall of rock and with increasing ease found route up to her, he started climbing his rope growing slack, the others on the ground watched, Li's mouth dropped open

"Since when could Alex climb like that!" she demanded

"Since his girlfriend was in trouble?" Amber teased

"No, he is doing that like he has been for years, he's like me." Li corrected, they watched more rock give way and flinched, Alex had no support basically. They watched him reach her and free the emergency lock on the harness, he watched her descend and once she was out of danger started the route down, Li watched growing more and more incredulous

"I will be having words with our Mr Allende," she muttered her friends laughed they watched Alex and Camille reach them

"_Alex_!" Li called he turned worried "Where the _hell_ did you learn to climb like that!" she demanded

"Canada, I worked out you can climb for longer if you use your arms a little more than your legs and after that all you need to master is how to notice the handholds. That is getting easier." Alex explained

"But..." Hex didn't want to mention the 'C' word

"Cancer Hex, and wheelchair also, arms get stronger and legs weaker. Pushing yourself around and with crutches strengthens your arms wonderfully." Alex told them

"You riding has improved also." Paulo commented

"That's just practice. And wanting to beat you in a race." Alex explained

"Keep wanting amigo. Keep waiting." Paulo replied "Though speaking of horses..." he looked at the top of the cliff, Hex dropped to the floor

"You have got to be kidding me." he groaned

"Race you." Amber grinned, Hex opened one eye

"... Deal." he grinned they ran to the cliff and sorted their ropes, Li went to check

"Ready?" Alex asked Camille, she held out her hand

"If you are cancer-boy." she grinned

"Nice." Alex laughed, she kissed him lightly amused Paulo rolled his eyes and just kissed Li when she returned. Camille turned to Paulo

"I would say 'race you' to Alex, but seriously, what chance do I have so... race you?" Paulo grinned then glanced at Li

"I think we are in the same boat Cam, so sure."

* * *

"Tessa!" Amber exclaimed into her phone drawing the attention of the other members of Alpha force and Camille who had heard about her through them "Oh no! Not again!" Amber sighed looking upset "Of course... Yes that would be lovely... Tessa, I speak for all of them, look," Amber held the phone away from her ear

"Do you want to go to her park again?" she asked the teens

"Yes!" they all exclaimed, they heard Tessa laughing

"Believe me?" Amber asked amused. A few minutes later she hung up

"We will meet Cam at the end of the Trek and then all go to her Safari park. Tessa unfortunately can't do the trek as she had injured her leg again and broken her arm." Amber explained "But she is driving the backup vehicle with her dad for another team." she added, Alpha force hid a smile, they were that team. There was silence then two watches beeped one after the other

"Alex." the five stated, the teen sat up lifting Camille's head off his lap as he went and injected himself, he made a face

"I don't like needles." he muttered they all laughed

"Neither do I." Amber grinned

"When are you leaving?" Li asked Camille

"Eight tomorrow morning, fly to Zambia, train at that altitude then two and a half weeks and its over." Camille replied dreading the trek "Why don't you do it again?" she asked suddenly, the five looked at each other, Li shrugged and Alex grinned

"We are." he replied. She shot upright off his lap

"You bastards!" she exclaimed, they all fell about laughing "You utter _bastards_!" she repeated but seeing the funny side as well, soon she was corpsed along with the rest of them

"Can you do it?" she asked thinking of all the injuries they had sustained recently

"Theoretically." Li replied "My knee is pretty much as good as new thanks to Physio."

"Same with my hand. I love proving doctors wrong. 'You will never regain the feeling or movement.'" he mimicked "Utter bollocks." he summarised flexing his hand

"I am just a diabetic. I have done it before. As for the bullet wound... have I not been training with you? Like Li said, Physio. It's wonderful." Amber added

"As you know I did not sustain too many injuries on that certain trip." Paulo commented, Camille turned to glare at Alex who fidgeted uncomfortable under the scrutiny

"I am fine." he stated shrugging "If I feel bad I will simply drop out. I am pretty sure Li will be asking me every five minutes how I feel." he added looking at her

"You be I will." Li replied snorting "Besides, you saw him riding and climbing, a sick person can't do that like him." she added levelling a glare at him, she still had not forgiven him for not telling her about his new found ability to scale cliffs.

"He is still easily the fastest on bike and foot. His past ensured _that_." Amber added

"Our watches are set, two for Alex, two for Amber." Hex added, as if on cue two watches beeped in synchrony

"Amber." they all called

"Dinner." Amber retorted

"Pancakes!" Camille exclaimed they all laughed

"I can't believe you had never had pancakes before you met us." Alex sighed "What did you do on pancake day?!"

"Huh?" Camille replied eloquently, Alex thought about it

"Shrove Tuesday? Near Easter?" he tried

"Atheist." Camille replied

"_So_?" the five replied, all atheists themselves, Camille laughed

"Never mind. I will make up for it, your dad can certainly cook pancakes Paulo. They are amazing." she grinned pulling Alex up "Why are you going out?"

"Tomorrow." Hex grinned the African hit Alex

"Why me!" he exclaimed, the others laughed and kept walking

"Because I know you'll forgive me." she grinned, Alex cocked an eyebrow

"Will I now?" he teased, she kissed him, then cocked an eyebrow in return "OK, yes I will." he agreed with a grin

"Oi! You two stop kissing there's pancakes in here!" Amber yelled at them

"Hypocrite!" four voices exclaimed, only Amber and Hex stayed silent

"She's the hypocrite!" Camille teased looking at Li and Paulo, the two grinned

"I don't know what you could be talking about." Paulo replied straight faced

"Yes Cam, _do_ spill." Amber grinned

"No Cam, _don't_ spill." Li replied throwing a strawberry at Amber

"Now, now children, play nice." Li's mum walked in the room

"Yes Catalina." they all chorused, the woman smiled indulgently and rolled her eyes helping herself to pancakes and strawberries "When are you leaving?" she asked sitting at the table

"Camille tomorrow at eight. Us... whenever." Paulo replied with his trademark cowboy grin, his mother smiled fondly

"Your dad, and Li's parents and I are leaving tomorrow for three weeks on a tour. During which we will care for the animals as we normally do. Be careful Paulo." she smiled at him, Paulo groaned

"Mama!" he exclaimed

"What, you must be the youngest of the lot!" she defended herself, Paulo looked shocked

"Maturity age, maybe." Alex grinned

"You are not?" Paulo's dad asked entering with Li's parents

"No!" Paulo exclaimed "I'm second oldest!"

"I'm oldest." Hex added

"Then me." Paulo put in in case his parents hadn't realised

"Then me." Li added

"And me, a few days in it." Amber flashed a grin at her best friend

"Then me." Camille added, the adults gaped at Alex

"No. You cant be the youngest!" Gaile Li's mother gasped, Alex was stuck on how to feel

"I can't tell if that is a complement or not." he finally admitted, Li laughed

"Take it as a compliment." she told him

"But you are so... seem so much older!" Brin Paulo's dad commented

"My childhood was cut short." Alex grimaced, the adults exchanged confused glances

"You should still be in your childhood!" Catalina remarked

"It depends on your definition of childhood as to when I left it." Alex replied

"Innocence." Catalina stated

"Not understanding how bad life is." Brin added

"Free to do what you want." Gaile contributed

"Not realising how short life really is." Leif Li's dad sighed, Alex grimaced again

"Then I have not been in childhood for a long time." Alex muttered,

"That makes two of us." Camille squeezed his hand

"What happened to you?" Catalina asked worried furrowing her brow

"Death." Hex, Alex, Amber and Camille replied in unison. The four adults faces begged to know more

"Orphaned from age three, then I was adopted." Hex explained

"Plane crash five, six years ago." Amber sighed

"Four years ago. They were shot." Camille sighed, they looked at Alex who smiled but there was no happiness or amusement in it

"What didn't happen?" Alex finally replied. The adults again exchanged glances as Alex slid out the room the loss of his parents still raw.

"Sorry." Paulo told his parents "His parents only died a few months ago hours apart, its still raw." he explained, understanding crossed their features, no one noticed as Camille followed Alex

"But he said he lost it a long time ago. What happened?", the friends glanced at each other then sighed

"When he was three his sister died, when he was five his brother, when he was seven his twin sisters, when he was twelve his twin brother. During all this also around twenty aunts and uncles and forty cousins all dead. Li explained flatly, both woman's hands flew to their mouths horror filled all the eyes of the four

"Car crashes, plane crashes, cancer, immune systems, heart attacks, his mum was a quadruple heart bypass infection and his dad a plane crash on the way home when he found out the news." Paulo added sadly

* * *

Camille knocked lightly on the door to Alex's room and pushed it open. The boy in question was sitting on his bed in the corner leaning against one wall and facing the other. Even with this she could see how pale he was, how much the exhaustions pulled at him. Camille sat on the edge of the bed and waited, she knew he would talk eventually.

"I had cancer." he finally stated

"I know." Camille replied confused, Alex shook his head and turned to face her, she reached across and took his hand, she was shocked to find it so cold, she shuffled over and sat next to him pulling a blanket around them both, she slipped her arm around him and he rested his head on her shoulder, she gently smoothed his hair as he spoke

"No." Alex muttered

"What?" she asked confused

"When I say I had cancer, I mean I had cancer." he shut his eyes "I have cancer at the moment but when I was six I was diagnosed. I made Nye promise to not tell my parents, the news so soon after that of Aggie and Phoebe would have destroyed them. Will got it too. Then I became too sick, I could barely sit up by myself, let alone walk or stand. I went through rigorous Chemotherapy and transfusions and everything but it didn't go. Then my immune system failed. I was locked in a sterilised room for three months. The day I got out was the day they died." Alex took a deep breath, Camille forced her hand to keep moving, it had frozen in shock."Will had cancer of the kidney, me it was tissues. They performed an intricate procedure on me and I entered remission, as soon as I was clear I gave my kidney to Will. He too entered remission. Two years later I relapsed. It was worse than before, but I still recovered. Then three years after that, Will relapsed. No one knows why or how, but three months after he relapsed he was dead. Ever since then I had been in remission. Then I was fifteen and relapsed. I went back into remission. During Solambia I felt myself weakening I knew what was happening. I went back to the doctor. Relapsed. That's why I was avoiding you. I didn't want you living staying with me, broken and useless as I was. I waited to see if I entered remission, just before Ambers eighteenth I had some tests, relapsed. Worse than before. That is why I left you."

"That and you were a moron." Camille butted in to break the tension

"Obviously." Alex grinned, then sighed "I took Chemo, sterilisation and eventually made it to Canada. I was there three months before the others came. There, as you know, I came up with the idea of making Alpha Force a bigger thing, then I got home and found mum needed major surgery, dad had to fly out the country so I stayed with mum. Four weeks later during a Greenpeace party in Boston after the meeting at Paulo's I got a call saying she was going in, I went home. The next thing I know is I am an orphan. Since then I have been trying to build up my life, no time for the Alpha Force future yet unfortunately. Now dealing with cancer..." Alex sighed "I just feel overwhelmed." he admitted, Camille knew how hard it must have been for him to admit that

"You are only eighteen, barely that. I am nineteen, Amber and Li are nineteen, Paulo and Hex twenty one. We are all young and nothing is perfect. You are the youngest yet we all look to you for leadership." Camille told him, kissing the top of his head

"Thanks." he muttered he felt exhaustion pulling at him, it was un natural for it to be this bad. He curled up against Camille and slept.

**AN: that's it. I'm out of ideas. Any help...**

**Read and Review please!**


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